Retractable tension reel



Sept. 8, 1970 c. s. sHuMAKER RETRACTABLE TENSION REEL Filed Sept. 19,1968 n H ,rf//J /f//f/H//4//f////W M M -11! m.. M J El .j E 1 f w c w ww .Il TC. s DN/W S. l v 0N L QN R Y Y f AB H QM C vn m. H L

@..Jmdf mW Lo. Il Z m\w of S.. 4 III r I I lll Il w- H N. E. l Nm3. .r@n .l Q O l 0 nm HIS TTORNEY United States Patent() 3,527,425 lRETRACTABLE TENSION REEL Charles Storer Shumaker, Glenshaw, Pa.,assignor to United Engineering and Foundry Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Filed Sept. 19, 1968, Ser. No. 760,898 Int.Cl. B21c 47/02 ABSTRACT or THE DISCLOSURE The tension reel disclosed isdesigned to minimize deilection of the expandable mandrel employed toimpose tension on metallic strip being coiled. The mandrel rotatablysupported by bearing block assemblies located at the outboard andinboard ends of the mandrel.` These bearing block assemblies are rigidlyheld to foundation mounted structures by wedges which, when released bypiston cylinder assemblies, allow the mandrel, including its expandingmechanism, to be completely retracted on a sled from a newly formed coilto one side thereof. During this time the coil is supported by a coiltransfer car. The mandrel is connected to a gear drive by an elongatedsplined shaft that telescopes into the drive when the mandrel isretracted from the coil.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Tension reels, as they are known in theart,` are employed to coil metallic strip delivered from a rolling mill,as well as strip processing lines. During the formation of a coil, theoncoming strip is placed under tension generated by the reel for theprincipalrpurpose of insuring that the coil is formed of aligned,tightly-wound,

consecutive wraps of strip. lt is very desirable, if not even essential,that the completed coil should have straight sides which are free fromboth irregularly projecting wraps and a telescoping shape. In thisrespect, should the coil not have straight sides, the projectingportions of the strip are frequently damaged during subsequent handlingof the coil, thus increasing the scrap losses of the coil.

Known tension reels generally take the form of driven expandablemandrels rotatably supported at one end in a cantilever manner. Such amandrel is subject to large bending forces causing it to deflect underthe weight of coiled strip, which in present-day practice may exceed70,000 pounds, and the strip tension generated by the reel. It ispointed out here that such dellection of the mandrel is not onlydetrimental to parts of the mandrel but also results in the formation ofa coil having nonuniform or non-straight sides, as previously mentioned.

To reduce deflection of such tension reel mandrels, it is known in theart to support its outboard end by a movable bearing support which mustbe retracted to some remote position to allow the newly formed coil tobe removed by stripping it axially from the mandrel by a coil car orother means. While such outboard bearing supports have met with acertain degree of success, they have not been wholly acceptable sincewear and distortion of their movable parts over a period of time, alongwith necessary operating clearances, allow the mandrel to deflect whilethe coil is being formed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention toprovide a more economical tension reel incorporating a minimum ofmovable parts to resist deliection of the coiling mandrel.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a tension reelhaving a robust foundation-mounted sup- 3,527,425 Patented Sept. 8, 1970port for the outboard end of the expandable mandrel to effectivelyresist its deflection during coiling of strip material.

lIt is a further object of the present invention to provide a tensionreel having an expandable mandrel assembly supported at both ends by afoundation-mounted structure, which mandrel is retractable from a newlyformed coil of strip for removal thereof from the mandrel.

In addition to the foregoing, a tension reel according to the presentinvention further includes:

Mandrel expansion means carried by said housing;

Coil stripping means carried by the stationary base for restrainingmovement of the coiled strip during removal of the mandrel therefrom;

First wedge means carried by the stationary base for rigidly holding thehousing during coiling of the strip on the mandrel;

Second wedge means carried by the rigid frame for rigidly holding theoutboard bearing assembly during coiling of the strip and the mandrel;and

A piston cylinder assembly connected to each of the wedge means forreleasing the wedge means from the housing and the outboard bearingassembly.

These features, as well as others, will be better understood when thefollowing description is read in light of the accompanying drawings ofwhich:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, of a tension reelincorporating the features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional View taken along lines II-II of FIG. 1;and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along lines III-III of FIG.1.

With reference to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a tension reel forIwinding strip into a coil C The tension reel includes an expandablemandrel 11 constructed in a manner, per se, well known in the art.Mounted on the outboard end of the mandrel is a bearing assembly 12which essentially includes an antifriction bearing 13 received within atubular bearing block 14. According to the vpresent invention, theoutboard bearing assembly 12 is supported by a foundation mounted androbustly constructed support 15, which includes a support housing 16formed with an inside diameter slightly larger than the outside diameterof the bearing block 114. The support housing 16, as best shown in FIGS.l and 3, is included as an integral part of a robustly constructedweldment 17 that is secured to the foundation by bolts 17a. Oiset fromthe top of the support 15, there is mounted a piston cylinder assembly18 connected `at its rod end to a wedge 19. This wedge is constructedand arranged to be slidably received in a tapered slot 16a formed in thehousing 16. The piston cylinder assembly actuated wedge is employed toreleasably secure the outboard bearing assembly 12 to the support 15during coiling of strip on the mandrel.

The inboard end of the mandrel is constructed with an extended shaft 11aon which are mounted spaced-apart bearing block assemblies 21 and 22.These bearing assemblies form part of a sled 23 which is constructedwith horizontal projections 24 that are slidably supported inlongitudinally arranged guideways 25 formed in a foundation mounted base26. The sled is provided with a downwardly extending projection to whichis secured the rod end of a piston cylinder assembly 27 employed totraverse the sled, hence, also the mandrel supported by the bearingblock assemblies 21 and 22 relative to the coil C.

As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bearing assembly 21 is constructedas an extension of the sled whereby the rectangularly shaped bearingblock 28 is supported by block 28 is releasably secured to the bearinglined surfaces by a wedge 30 connected to the rod end of a pistoncylinder assembly 31. An arm 32 projects upwardly from the ybase formounting the piston cylinder assembly 31, as well as providing supportsurfaces for the wedge 30.

An expanding mechanism is provided for the mandrel 11 which, while itmay be in the form of a number of well-known constructions, the oneillustrated in FIG. 1 consists of a piston cylinder assembly 33supported by arms 34 extending from the bearing block 28. A crosshead 35interconnects the rod end of the piston cylinder assembly with one ofthe ends of spaced parallel arms 36. These arms are pivotallysecured attheir opposite ends by links 37 to the extensions of the bearing block28. Trunnions, not shown, are used to connect the midpoints of the arms36 to the bearing block assembly 38 lby which it is slidably displacedalong an extending portion 11a of the mandrel by the piston cylinderassembly 33. The sliding movement of the bearing 'block 38 istransmitted to the actuating rod 39 of the mandrel |by a bar 40 whichpasses through an elongated slot formed in the mandrel.

A drive 42 interconnects a motor, not shown, with the mandrel through aspindle 43. The spindle has a splined end 44 that telescopes into andout of the drive when the mandrel is retracted from a coil along thebase 26. To facilitate removal of the coil C from the mandrel, there isprovided a coil stripper plate 45 secured to the base 26. The plate 45is constructed with a, concaved upper surface to conform generally tothe circular shape and size of the mandrel.

When it is desired to remove a newly formed coil from the mandrel, thewedge 19 is released by the piston cylinder assembly 18 and the wedge 30is released by the piston cylinder assembly 31. After this occurs, acoil car 46, constructed in a manner well known in the art, is broughtinto a supporting relationship with the coil, after which the pistoncylinder assembly 27 is actuated to retract the mandrel from the coil bytraversing the sled 23 along the guideways formed in the base 26. Itwill be appreciated by those skilled in the art that a tension reelconstructed in accordance with the present invention per mits theemployment of small, less expensive bearings, particularly thoseincorporated in the bearing block assemblies 21 and 22. This is madepossible because the weight of a coil during its formation and aftercompletion is always sustained 'by the inboard and outboard bearings atthe same time and not separately.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I haveexplained the principle and operation of my invention and haveillustrated and described what I consider to represent the bestembodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. A tensionreel comprising:

an expandable mandrel for forming metallic strip into a coil;

base 26. VWith particular: referenceVv toVV E1G-. :2pc-the.l .bearing-vvdrive means connected to said mandrel for generating eee-tensionon-strip during coiling;mln Af vf rst bearing means mounted on theoutboard end of said mandrel; l' a frame rigidly mounted on a foundationfor supporting said first bearing means; isecond bearing means mountedon the inboard end `of said mandrel andincluding sled means mountlngsaid second bearing means; v a base rigidly mounted on a foundation andincluding elongatedsurfaces `for slidably supporting said sled means;

means operatively associated with said sled means for displacingsaid'sled along said support surfaces a distance "sucient to retractsaid mandrel from a coil; and

means ,for supportingthe coil during displacement of said mandrel Ibythe said last-named means.

2LA tensionvreel according to claim 1 further comprising: I Y' mandrelexpansion means carried by said secondfbearing means; and

coil stripping means carried by said base adjacent Said mandrel forrestraining against movement a coil during removal of said mandreltherefrom.

3. A tension 'reel according to claim 1 further comprising separate andindependent locking means for securing said rst bearing means to saidframe and said second bearing means to said lbase.

4. A tension reel according to claim 3 wherein each of said lockingmeans includes a wedge connected to a piston cylinder assembly.

5. A tension reel comprising:

an expandable mandrel for forming metallic strip into a coil;

-a sled'rotatably supporting one end of said mandrel;

a base `for slidably supporting said sled;

bearing means carried on the other end of said mandrel; Va foundationmounted frame for supporting said bear- 'g ing means;

'means connected to said sled means for slidably displacing said sledrelative to said base a distance sulficient toretract saidV mandrel froma coil formed thereon; and v means for supporting the coil duringremoval of said mandrel from the coil by said last-named means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS .lNiATHANL MINTZ, PrimaryExaminer UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTICN Patent No3 ,527 ,425 September 8 1970 Charles Storer Shumaker It is certifiedthat error appears in the above identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

line 3, after "mandrel" insert is Column 4,

Column l,

should read sufficient line l5, l1sucient" Signed and sealed this 6thday of April 1971.

(SEAL) Attest:

WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

